Learning theology online … three words with a whole host of implications.

I’ve been inspired to write this blog by my experiences in working in distance and online theological education over the past few years. Along with the broader higher education sector, theological educators face many challenges in teaching in distance and online contexts. These might include challenges relating to course design, appropriate pedagogies for distance and online learning contexts and effective use of technologies in teaching and learning. For many theological educators, distance and online education also raise questions relating to spiritual formation and how to adequately prepare students for ministry in learning contexts where there is little or no face-to-face time between teacher and student.

I’m interested in exploring these challenges and in working with others to find ways of doing distance and online theological education, and doing it well. In this blog I hope to explore a number of avenues for further improving the ways in which theological educators can help students to learn in meaningful and relevant ways whether they are in the classroom, at a computer screen, or out in the field.